When Marnie Was There
| director = Akiva Goldsman Sofia Coppola | producer = Kristie Macosko Krieger Roman Coppola Kathleen Kennedy Julie Taymor Thomas Schumacher | screenplay = John Francis Daley Jonathan Goldstein Sofia Coppola Linda Woolverton David Henry Hwang Screenplay Translation: Masashi Andō Keiko Niwa Hiromasa Yonebayashi | story = John Francis Daley Jonathan Goldstein David Hayter Akiva Goldsman | based on = | starring = | music = Hans Zimmer Rupert Gregson-Williams | cinematography = Atsushi Okuo | editing = Rie Matsubara | studio = Village Roadshow Pictures Amblin Entertainment Studio Ghibli American Zoetrope Jerry Bruckheimer Films Reliance Entertainment The Kennedy/Marshall Company Participant Media | distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures Toho | released = | runtime = 103 minutes | country = Japan | language = Japanese | budget = ( ) | gross = ( ) }} is a 2014 Japanese anime drama film written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, David Hayter, Akiva Goldsman, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Linda Woolverton and David Henry Hwang and directed by Goldsman and Sofia Coppola, animated by Studio Ghibli, produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, American Zoetrope, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Amblin Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Participant Media and Reliance Entertainment and initially distributed by Toho in Japan and Warner Bros. Pictures in North America. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel of the same name. The film follows Anna Sasaki staying with her relatives in a town in Kushiro wetlands, Hokkaido. Anna comes across a nearby abandoned mansion, where she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl who asks her to promise to keep their secrets from everyone. As the summer progresses, Anna spends more time with Marnie, and eventually Anna learns the truth about her family and foster care. It was the final film for Studio Ghibli and American Zoetrope, before they announced that it would take a short hiatus after ''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, and the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki a year before the film was released. The film featured the final work for Studio Ghibli animator Makiko Futaki, who died in May 2016. It was also the final film that Yonebayashi written for Ghibli before he decided to quit the studio. The film was released in theatres on 19 July 2014, and on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on 18 March 2015. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 88th Academy Awards. were part of the film.]] , Norfolk.]] Plot Anna Sasaki is an introverted 12-year-old girl living in Sapporo with foster parents, Yoriko and her husband. After collapsing from an asthma attack one day at school, Yoriko discusses Anna’s condition and recently withdrawn attitude with her doctor. At his recommendation to send Anna to a place where the air is clear, both foster parents decide to have her spend the summer break with Yoriko's relatives, Setsu and Kiyomasa Oiwa, who live in a rural, seaside town located between Kushiro and Nemuro. Anna sees an abandoned mansion across a salt marsh and goes to investigate it. She looks around, finding it familiar, but gets trapped there by the rising tide until she is found by Toichi, a taciturn old fisherman, who brings her back to the pier with his rowboat. When she returns to the Oiwa's, Setsu tells her that the mansion used to be a vacation home for some foreigners, but that it has been empty for a long time. Starting that night, Anna dreams of seeing a blonde girl in the mansion. On the night of the Tanabata festival, Anna gets into an argument with one of the local girls and runs away to the mansion across the marsh where she meets the blonde girl, Marnie. The two agree to keep their meeting secret and they meet again on the next evening. Marnie invites Anna to a party at the mansion, filled with guests. Marnie disguises Anna to get her into the party. While there, Anna sees Marnie dancing with a boy named Kazuhiko. Later, some townspeople find Anna asleep by the post office. The next day, Anna returns to the mansion, but it appears abandoned and dilapidated again. One week later, while sitting on the shore sketching, Anna meets Hisako, an older woman who paints pictures of the marsh and the mansion. Hisako comments that Anna's sketches look like a girl whom she knew when she was young, and who used to live in the mansion. She also tells Anna that the mansion is being renovated for new owners. Anna runs to the mansion, where she meets a girl named Sayaka, who discovers Marnie's diary hidden in a drawer. The next day, Marnie reappears and the two girls discuss their home lives. Anna admits to finding government documents that show how her foster parents are paid to take care of her. Anna makes the assumption that they only pretend to love her for the money. Marnie then shares with Anna how her parents are always traveling abroad, how they leave her in the mansion with her nanny and two maids, and how they abuse her physically and psychologically, threatening to lock her in the silo near the mansion. Anna leads Marnie to the silo, where she helps her confront her fear. Anna wakes up at the stairway, only to find Marnie gone. Meanwhile, Sayaka finds the missing pages from Marnie's diary, which include passages about Kazuhiko and the nearby abandoned silo. Sayaka and her brother find Anna unconscious and bring her back to her relatives' house. While in her feverish state, Anna dreams about confronting Marnie, who tells Anna she is sorry for leaving her and that she cannot see Anna anymore. When Anna recovers from her fever, Sayaka shows her the missing pages and a painting Hisako gave to Marnie. They converse with Hisako, who tells them about Marnie's story: Marnie was neglected by her parents, as they always leave her in the care of the nanny and two maids. Marnie married Kazuhiko and they had a daughter named Emily. Kazuhiko became sick and died, then Marnie was committed to a sanatorium to recover from the psychiatric effect of his death. Emily was sent to boarding school since Marnie's parents had also died, and she had no one to look after Emily. After Marnie was released and Emily came back from boarding school at the age of 13, Emily blamed Marnie for abandoning her. Emily ran away and had a daughter herself, but she and her husband were killed in a car accident when their daughter was a year old. Marnie raised her granddaughter, who was placed in foster care after her death. At the end of the summer Yoriko arrives in town to take Anna home. She gives Anna a photograph of the mansion and says it belonged to Anna's grandmother. When Anna sees Marnie's name written on the back, she realizes that she is Emily's daughter and Marnie's granddaughter. This revelation helps to bring Anna closure about her identity. Yoriko also tells Anna about the government payments for her care and reassures her that whether they receive them or not does not change what they feel about her. However, Anna admits she knew about the payments but now no longer cares about them. For the first time Anna calls Yoriko her mother instead of her aunt. During the end credits Anna says goodbye to the friends she met in town, before seeing Marnie in the mansion waving goodbye to her as Yoriko drives Anna back home. Voice cast Music | recorded = | venue = | studio = The Newman Scoring Stage | genre = Soundtrack | length = 1:11:18 | label = Studio Ghibli Records Tokuma Japan Communications | producer = Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = | misc = }}When Marnie Was There Soundtrack Music Collection, known as in Japan, is a two-disc soundtrack and image song album that was released on CD in Japan and in 113 countries worldwide (including Japan) as a digital download on the iTunes Store on 16 July 2014. The first "Image Song" disc features music composed to express the personality of the characters and feel of places in the film. The second disc features all the background music for the film. Priscilla Ahn, the writer and performer of the movie's theme song, "Fine on the Outside", also released an accompanying album to the film called ''Just Know That I Love You on 16 July 2014. Track listing | length1= 3:36 | title2 = | length2 =3:43 | title3 = | length3 = 3:38 | title4 = | length4 = 4:37 | title5 = | length5 = 2:23 | title6 = | length6 = 3:54 }} | length1= 1:40 | title2 = | length2 =1:42 | title3 = | length3 = 2:00 | title4 = | length4 = 2:09 | title5 = | length5 = 0:23 | title6 = | length6 = 0:57 | title7 = | length7 = 0:43 | title8 = | length8 = 0:39 | title9 = | length9 = 0:59 | title10 = | length10 = 0:47 | title11 = | length11 = 3:25 | title12 = | length12 = 1:47 | title13 = | length13 = 1:14 | title14 = | length14 = 1:45 | title15 = | length15 = 2:22 | title16 = | length16 = 1:57 | title17 = | length17 = 1:14 | title18 = | length18 = 0:37 | title19 = | length19 = 2:43 | title20 = | length20 = 1:21 | title21 = | length21 = 3:38 | title22 = | length22 = 0:57 | title23 = | length23 = 0:46 | title24 = | length24 = 2:52 | title25 = | length25 = 3:13 | title26 = | length26 = 1:26 | title27 = | length27 = 1:58 | title28 = Fine on the Outside | note28 = Words and music written by Priscilla Ahn | length28 = 4:14 }} Release When Marnie Was There was released in Japan on 19 July 2014. On 14 January 2015, GKIDS announced that they would be distributing the film for a North American release. The film premièred at the New York International Children's Film Festival on 27 February 2015. The film had its UK premiere during the BFI London Film Festival on 10 October 2015 with a wider release scheduled for 10 June 2016. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on 18 March 2015, and released on Blu-ray and DVD in America by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on 6 October 2015. Reception Box office When Marnie Was There opened at third place, grossing during its opening weekend in Japan. By its fourth weekend, it had earned , made an additional in its next two weekends, and had a total of by its eighth weekend. In North America, the film had grossed by its third weekend. Book sales Following the success of the film, Robinson's original novel experienced a boost in sales internationally. Her agent Caroline Sheldon sold the rights of the book to 10 countries, including Japan, Italy, Spain and China. The book was also re-released in English by HarperCollins Children's Books as part of its classics range. Critical response When Marnie Was There received positive reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 90%, based on 94 reviews, with an average of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "When Marnie Was There is still blessed with enough visual and narrative beauty to recommend, even if it isn't quite as magical as Studio Ghibli's greatest works." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Accolades References External links * * * * * Category:2014 anime films Category:Toho animated films Category:Anime films based on novels Category:Family in fiction Category:Films based on British novels Category:Films set in Japan Category:Films set in Hokkaido Category:Anime set in Hokkaido Category:Films about child abuse Category:Ghost films Category:Japanese films Category:Studio Ghibli animated films Category:Anime films scored by Hans Zimmer Category:Anime films scored by Rupert Gregson-Williams Category:Anime films scored by Halli Cauthery Category:Anime films scored by David Buckley Category:Warner Bros. animated films Category:Village Roadshow Pictures animated films Category:Amblin Entertainment animated films Category:American Zoetrope films Category:The Kennedy/Marshall Company films Category:Reliance Entertainment films Category:Participant Media films Category:Films with screenplays by Akiva Goldsman Category:Films with screenplays by John Francis Daley Category:Films with screenplays by Jonathan Goldstein Category:Films with screenplays by Sofia Coppola Category:Films with screenplays by Linda Woolverton Category:Films with screenplays by David Henry Hwang Category:Films with screenplays by David Hayter Category:Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Category:Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy Category:Films produced by Kristie Macosko Krieger Category:Films produced by Steven Spielberg Category:Films produced by Francis Ford Coppola